Heyow! I had always wanted to write a Coppelion fic, but the Coppelion Category was just recently started. No one is probably reading this, which makes it more fun to write! Haha. I don't know about you guys but I just totally love this series. In the span of, I don't know, a month, I've written about 3 notebooks full of my own Coppelion universe! That's pretty weird, and yes, I don't pay attention in class.

Well, this is my first time writing a fic for a category other than TAKNR or TAMNI, so I guess you'd call this a pretty new experience! Enough of my rant, please allow me to start the story!

Just so you know, I'm addicted to Ibara and Haruto, so you'll read a lot of it here. Oh, and the timeline of this would be a long time after Haruto's revival, which, in this present time, has not yet been released in the manga. Spoiler alert: he dies then revives. Haha.

This'll probably a two shot. With this one being too long, while the other one is normal.

CHRISTMAS IN THE RUINS

December 21th 2036

"Nee~ Ibara-senpai?" Fukasaku Aoi cooed as she and the other members of the Healthcare Unit of the JGSDF Technical School, Nomura Taeko and Naruse Ibara, walked around the streets of the abandoned capital, Tokyo. "How much longer are we gonna have to walk? I'm getting tired~!"

"Oh come on Aoi, just a little more okay? Promise!" Naruse Ibara said with a smile as she looked back at her kouhai before turning her attention back to the road.

"But senpaiii~! Aoi is a bishoujo! Aoi can't take much more of the walking!" she complained again.

"Maa, maa Aoi-san." Taeko said, matching her pace to that of her classmate before leaning in and whispering something into her ear. "Ibara-senpai has been really dazed for the past few months and you know that. We need to be more considerate of her."

"But even so! Kurosawa-senpai is alive and well isn't he?! Then Ibara-senpai sh—" a sudden wave of realization hit her as a sly smile made it to her face.

"Ara? Aoi-san?" Taeko asked as she watched her move in tiptoes towards their senior.

"Ne, ne Ibara-senpai?" Aoi asked, popping her head beside Ibara, who suddenly stopped to stare at her kouhai weirdly.

"Wh-what is it Aoi? You're acting very weird…"

"Ufufufu, Kurosawa-senpai is returning from the team mission with the Ozu sisters in Akihabara by today or tomorrow, right?" Aoi asked slyly, placing a hand near her mouth as she spoke.

"Uhh…yeah? And what does Haruto's return have to do with anything? And why are you so close to me anyway?!"

Ibara said taking a few steps back as she looked cautiously at Fukasaku Aoi, who was smiling at her. She then looked over to Taeko, who just shrugged before smiling nervously back at her. Ibara had a thought.

"Hey." She said looking at the two suspiciously. "What are you guys planning?"

"Hah?! What are you talking about senpai?!" Aoi denied obviously. "We're not planning anything! Oh nothing at all! Absolutely nothing!"

Her lie was so obviously fake, Ibara could only sweat drop and stare exasperatedly at her, as Taeko face palmed and sighed. She really wasn't good at keeping secrets.

"Ah, well if you say so." she said, playing along, which brought the life back into Aoi's eyes. "But we should get moving now. It's almost coming close to night time, we should set up camp."

"Aww, if only Kurosawa-senpai was here, we could have him invent a bomb that explodes and becomes a camping set, complete with a tent, bonfire and everything!" Aoi complained again as Taeko just smiled and continued on walking.

"Hey now, don't take Haruto's skill for granted Aoi." Ibara said with a smile as they trudged forward. "He may be really good at what he does, but he can't do impossible stuff like that, not that I know of anyway."

She added, looking back at them with a beautiful smile on her face as she walked ahead of them. A second later, she had withdrawn her gaze and went on their journey to find a place to sleep in the old capital. As she marched forward, Taeko and Aoi, who walked behind her whispered to one another.

"She sure looks happy whenever we speak of Kurosawa-senpai ne, Taeko?"

"Well, from what I've heard, she and Kurosawa-senpai had known each other since they were five. They must be pretty close, so that's why." Taeko answered logically.

"Fuu~ you're no fun Taeko, I was just wondering if maybe Ibara-senpai liked Kurosawa senpai!"

"Eh?!" She gasped. "Really? I never thought of that…but considering them, it certainly would be possible!"

"I know right!" And so the two girls giggled behind their senior's back. Not noticing that she was two kilometers away from them.

"OI! YOU TWO! HURRY UP!"

She shouted. The two first year high school students looked forward, in search of their senior, who was WAY ahead of them.

"I'M RIGHT HERE! MOU! HURRY UP OR I'LL LEAVE YOU! DON'T BLAME ME IF WILD ANIMALS COME AND TAKE YOU, AOI! THEY'D BE NICE TO TAEKO, BUT NOT TO YOU!"

Ibara called out once again, before moving on. Aoi immediately panicked and dashed forward, crying out her seniors name as Taeko laughed and jogged behind her, just to make sure that an animal really didn't come and take her away. It was better safe than sorry right?

December 22st 2036

Ibara Naruse stretched her arms as she yawned out her sleep, blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the brightness. She felt a cold draft run through her as she hurriedly put on her jacket and vest.

"Brr…" She shuddered, standing up. "It's really cold this morning huh?"

Ibara looked to both sides and saw Taeko and Aoi sleeping peacefully next to her. She smiled, before placing a blanket over them, something which they subconsciously appreciated. Ibara stood up from the clinical bed, since they did take refuge in an old clinic. The other two girls pestered her all night about sleeping together, even though there were more than enough beds for all three of them.

"These two are still like kids…"

She said to herself as she walked over to the window, but was surprised to see how fogged up it was. Puzzled by this, she tried to wipe off the fog, only to realize how cold it made the glass and how useless it was. She tried opening it, but due to oldness, it wouldn't budge.

Panic made its way to her as she thought of the possibilities: This might be an enemy attack. The fog might actually be poisonous, even for Coppelion's like them. It was actually smoke and they were being burned to death. Looking over to the other two who slept peacefully on the bed, she couldn't bring herself to wake them up. She hurriedly scribbled a note, placed it on the nearest table and ran off, picking up her gun.

She ran through the corridors and the fleet of stairs at nearly the speed of sound, not noticing anything weird in her surroundings. Thinking that the "enemy" had not yet penetrated their territory, she made her way up to the rooftop, peeking through it, before barging out, pointing her gun at every direction.

"What the-?! No one's here?" She asked herself as she panted and lowered her gun. She sighed, before walking over to rails and touching them, only to regret the said attention as she drew it back quickly. "Ugh, cold."

She then began staring out at the scene of the old capital. The sky was a bit grey, but beautiful as always. It had made her wonder, if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe it would rain, maybe it was another wave of the wind of death, or maybe the gods just decided to make it a little dark for today.

"Haah~" she sighed. "I got too worked up over nothing, silly me."

Ibara laughed to herself as she stared up at the gloomy sky, before noticing something that floated towards her. She held out her hand and touched the said thing, feeling a slightly tingling sensation from its touch.

"Huh, I wonder what is this— SNOW?!" She exclaimed happily, carefully examining the little flake of snow that dropped from the heavens. Several drops of white were falling, the same way the little one in her hand did. She held up both her arms and danced around.

"Ha-ha! I caught it! I caught the first snow flake! Something good is bound to happen to me n-!"

"IBARA-SENPAI!"

Came two loud voices from the door she had kicked open. Ibara stopped dancing and looked at Taeko and Aoi who were panting breathlessly, hands to their knees.

"Wow. What did you guys do? Run a marathon or something?" she joked.

"This is no joking matter senpai!" Taeko said in a panic. She held up the note Ibara had left for them earlier and Ibara's expression slowly dropped. "What is this note?! What's the emergency?! Who's the enemy?!"

"Waa~! Aoi can't take this much stress so early in the morning! It's only a 8 AM for crying out loud!" Aoi cried.

"Ah, about that…" Ibara said scratching the back of her head. "You guys don't have to worry about that. It was just a false alarm. It's nothing really." She said nervously with a laugh.

Aoi and Taeko stopped and stared at her conspicuously. Ibara stopped laughing and looked at the two who had shocked expressions frozen on their faces.

"Uhm, girls?"

"You…you mean to say we got worked up for nothing?" Aoi asked.

"Uhh, yeah. Sorry about that."

"There is no enemy or attack?" Taeko inquired.

"Nope, none. All clear."

"You…" Aoi muttered as Taeko just sighed. "HOW COULD YOU PLAY SUCH A MEAN PRANK ON US IBARA-SENPAI! AND TO THINK THAT CHRISTMAS IS NEAR TOO!"

'Agh! What the hell?! First flake my butt! Nothing good is happening to me! My kouhai is yelling at me for crying out loud! She-eh?! Wait, what?!' Naruse thought.

"What did you say Aoi?"

"I said that you're mean and that it's almost Christmas, you big meanie!" Aoi shouted, sticking her tongue out to Ibara, who made a fist out of her right hand, placing it on her left hand, as she concluded on something.

"Ah! So that explains the fog, the cold weather and the snow!" she said out loud, happily, causing Aoi and Taeko to gawk at her.

"W-what?" Aoi asked.

"Well, the reason why I thought we were being attacked was because there was fog lining up the windows, so I thought it was some sort of poisonous gas or something. Sorry about that! Guess I got a bit too paranoid huh?" she laughed, which snapped a fuse in Aoi.

"IBARA-SENPAI YOU IDIOT!" she shouted. "Today is December 22! Of course it would be cold and there'd be snow!"

"Hey, I forgot okay? Relax Aoi! Just look at the city and the falling snow, isn't it pretty?"She said pushing Aoi over to the railings, shutting her up. "You too Taeko! Come on!" She said grabbing her hand and taking her next to Aoi and watched as they marveled at the over look of the city.

"Pretty aint it?" She asked, hoping that the whole issue would've been forgotten.

"Hello? Channel 3 to Channel 1, Kurosawa here, are you there Naruse?" came Haruto's voice from the radio inside Ibara's pocket. All three girls turned their attention to Ibara's skirt pocket, staring at it for a while.

"Uh? Hello? Naruse? Come in!"

"Answer it Ibara-senpai!"

Aoi shouted, grabbing the radio from her skirt pocket and shoving it at her chest, surprising her. Aoi steeped back and Ibara took a breath and held the radio in her hands.

"Ah? Haruto? It's me. Sorry I was late answering."

"Huh. That's weird. Usually you'd pick up the second someone calls you. Has something happened? You three alright?" he asked.

Ibara was shocked at first, but she slowly relaxed and smiled. Taeko and Aoi smiled at one another before turning their backs, giving the two callers a bit of privacy, though they were still eavesdropping.

"Nope. Nothing happened. I accidentally gave Aoi a mini-heart attack, so she was screaming her lungs at me for it, that's all." She said happily. 'Huh. The first snow flake does bring luck after all!'

"Ah, is that so?" Haruto replied. "Uhm…listen Naruse, I have something to tell you."

"Huh? What is it Haruto? Are you guys in trouble or something?" she asked worriedly.

"No, it's noth—"

"Ha! As if that'd ever happen! Have you forgotten that we're here with him, huh class rep?"

Ibara's eye twitched upon hearing this response. Only one person/Coppelion in the world would have the audacity to do something as frivolous as taking the radio from someone while they were talking.

"Kanon Ozu. Nice to talk to you again."

"Oh save the sweet talk for Haruto class rep, not interested in it." She replied in a bored tone. Struggling could be heard from the background, and Ibara could only suspect that Shion Ozu was holding Haruto off as her sister tried to piss Ibara off.

"Whatever you say Kanon, but could you please tell Shion to get off Haruto? He was about to tell me something important, I think."

"Oh that? He was just gonna tell you that we wouldn't be able to return in time for Christmas, so spend your nights all sad and lonely okay?"

"Dammit Kanon give that back!" Came Haruto's voice and another weird sound, she had no interest of knowing.

"Ah! Shion! Why'd you let him loose! I was having my fun!"

"But Aneki! Haruto was blackmailing me again!" Shion cried.

'Uh, Naruse? You think you could hold for a sec? While I try to get things in order here?" Haruto said over the radio as he panted. Aoi and Taeko, who were listening in the whole time, could only look at her with sad expressions, as Ibara tried to smile.

"Yeah, of course. You go do that, Haruto."

"Thanks. Sorry about this Naruse. I'll call you later, okay?" He said hanging up and ending the call, though it really wasn't much of a call. More like a sad greeting.

"Sigh, and to think I wanted all of us to be together this Christmas…" Ibara said with a sad smile. "Looks like my plan's all ruined huh?"

"We're sorry about that, Ibara-senpai…" Aoi said coming over and hugging her, while Taeko could only stand beside her and nod. Ibara smiled and patted both of their heads.

"Not to worry now. I still have you guys with me right? Besides, Haruto promised me that he'd call me later right? I'm sure that by then, he would've thought of something to get back here in time for Christmas!" she said cheerily, making the two girls smile and nod. But he never really called after that. And she was left to stare at the radio the entire time, waiting for his call to arrive.

December 23rd 2036

"Are you sure about that, Naruse?"

Vice Principal Mishima asked as he walked around the JGSDF Base in Osaka, with Lieutenant Ibuse right beside him, yawning in boredom.

"Yes, positive Vice Principal." Naruse answered as she watched Taeko and Aoi play snowballs in an old field. She sat on one of the benches with a contented smile, looking up at the sky. "We haven't come across any humans so far. Though I still believe that there may be some who are still surviving."

"Good enough. Great work."

"Hai, Vice Principal Mishima. Naruse Ibara is ou—"

"Actually, Naruse? Wait." The principal said, as she was about to hang up. She stared at the radio in a puzzled manner, wondering what the VP had to say. "Has Kurosawa or the Mop up Squad contacted you yet?"

"Ah, them?" Ibara repeated sadly. "Yes. They've called me yesterday, is there a problem sir?"

'I don't think I'm the one who has a problem, Naruse. Why did you sound sad? Has something happened?"

"No." She answered, shaking her head, as if the VP could see her gesture from the call. "It's nothing serious really. They just called me…to say that they wouldn't be able to come back for Christmas."

"Ah? Is that so? That's too bad then. It would've been nice to spend Christmas, all of you, together. The same way the two of you did when you were younger." The VP said, making her eyes widen. She looked around, wondering if Aoi had heard that, and just her luck. Aoi was right behind her, grinning slyly again.

"I'm going now, Vice Principal." She grunted, placing the radio back in her pocket.

"Ne, Ibara-sen—"

"Not another word Aoi."

"Ha-ha-ha. Of course, of course. As you wish. I just never knew that you spend Christmas together, you and Kurosawa-senpai, I mean. ALONE."

"THAT'S NOT IT AOI!"

"Sigh, I can't believe those kids coaxed me into this."

The VP said as he readjusted his tie, gulping up a cup of hot coffee. Lieutenant Ibuse drank his own cup and faced him.

"Well, what can you do? Kurosawa Haruto was never really lenient when it came to matters concerning her."

"Yes, I know that. I just hope that this whole plan wouldn't backfire on him or anyone else. Especially Naruse. That girl easily gets irrational. Who knows what she would do? She can get a bit hot headed at times."

"A bit?" Ibuse asked.

"A lot." VP corrected.

"Hah. Thought so too." And so the two drank their coffee.

"Hah! It seems like your plan worked perfectly Haruto!"

Kanon Ozu managed to breathe out of her laughter as she and her sister rolled around inside the APC driven by Haruto. They were eavesdropping on the VP's and Ibara's radio conversation, so they heard her disappointment.

"Shut up the both of you. It's distracting to hear your manic laughter while I'm driving you know."

"Want something distracting Haruto?" Shion said wiping away her tears of laughter. "Imagine the look on class rep's face when she sees you! Gyahahahaha! She can't even look at you in the eye! Not after you "died" before getting to Mitaka station!"

The two sisters laughed their butts off as Haruto could only do his best to shut out the sounds of their ringing manic laughter from his ears and mind. It's volume nearly drove him to insanity.

'Yeah, well that's why I'm doing this in the first place. To set things straight between us.' Haruto thought as the drive went on. Haa, this was gonna be one long ride.

December 24th 2036

"Haah~ Such a beautiful Christmas Eve-day, and we're just gonna spend it with the three of us…"

Ibara Naruse stared at the city, atop of a rusty old bridge. The abandoned city looked so beautiful, as it was draped white by the snow. Despite the ghost town appearance of it, she still felt at home. But of course, there was still lingering loneliness in her heart.

"Senpai?" Taeko asked as she approached her from behind.

"Ah, hey there Taeko. Why aren't you playing with Aoi and Mr. Wolf over there?" Ibara said with a smile as she pointed towards Aoi and the wolf, who were playing tag below them in the cold comfort of snow.

"I wasn't really made for stuff like those, senpai. And besides, I couldn't possibly keep up with Aoi-san's and Mr. Wolf's energy."

"Ha-ha. Guess you're right."

They both laughed as they watched the twp figures run around below them. As their laughter died down, a comfortable silence overcame them as they just stared at the white city. Taeko looked over to her senior, and saw the look of longing in her eyes. A strong girl she may be, her heart was just as vulnerable as snow.

"You really wanted to spend the Christmas with everyone huh, Senpai?"

"Of course I did." She answered, taking a breath. "You, me, Aoi, Mr. Wolf, Kanon, Shion, Haruto, and everyone…just everyone. Coppelions will just drop and die someday right? We don't know when that'll be, but I just want to live my life to the fullest in the capital. With everyone that I care about and whom I consider important. That's…al I really want."

Ibara said, and Taeko had nothing to say for that. They just both left it at that, letting the silence make a sound for them.

"IBARA SENPAI! TAEKOOOO!" Aoi shouted, causing the two of them to look down, only to see her getting held by a man with a mask. "HELP MEEEE~! SOMEONE SAVE AOI PLEASE!"

She cried. Ibara wasted no time in taking out her gun, jumping off the railing and onto the ground. Taeko had to use the stairs, since she wasn't as agile as her senior. Ibara stood up and pointed the gun at the person who held Aoi's head.

"Who are you?! What do you want with Aoi?!"

She demanded, but the man didn't speak. Instead, ge just stomped his foot once, and then suddenly a wall of snow exploded, acting as a smoke screen for him to escape.

"SENPAIII~!" Aoi shouted as she got dragged off somewhere by the unknown guy. Ibara could only cover her eyes, and listen to Aoi's wails. When the snow finally settled down, Taeko came running to her aside, panting as she did.

"Senpai? What happened to Aoi-san?"

"I don't know." Ibara muttered as she lowered her head. She took out her gloves, wore them around her hands, fastening them. She checked the barrel of her gun, locked it before placing bullets and ammo on the strap on her thigh.

"Uh…senpai?"

"I am really freaking pissed off right now." Ibara muttered angrily, scaring Taeko off slightly. "I am really freaking pissed, and whoever did that to Aoi is SOOO GONNA GET IT." She stressed, before running off towards the direction where Aoi and the man went to.

"Ah! Ibara-senpai! Wait! You should-!" But it was too late, for she had already gone too far. "Oh dear! I need to warn them quickly!" Taeko said running off to the opposite direction in a frenzy. Things weren't going quite as planned.

Naruse Ibara ran through the empty streets of Tokyo. With a gun in her hand, she stealthily made her way towards the old shopping lane, where she suspects that the criminals have taken Aoi to.

"Tch. First flake of Christmas?! As if!" she scoffed. "Nothing good has happened ever since I caught the damned thing!"

She continued, as she looked around her, noting down the broken toys that were left behind inside a toy store. She noticed an alleyway beside it; where in a sparkly thing caught her eye. She walked over to it and picked it up. It was Aoi's blue hair pin.

"I knew it they were right here."

She said to herself as she continued to look around her. The snow was getting thick; it was hard to take her foot off her own footsteps in the snow. But this would be a great asset when it came to battles. Her senses heightened, and she immediately turned around, and saw two figures clad in red, standing before her.

"Who are you people and where's Aoi?!"

She shouted, but got no response. The two figures smiled, before running off in different directions. Ibara looked both ways, wondering which way she should go. Deciding to trust her instincts, she went right. Hopefully her instinct was right. Running through the snow was no easy task.

"OI!" Ibara shouted, as she was still running after the person in red. "Where the hell are we going huh?! I've been running after you for nearly an hour now! If you're trying to get rid of me, I'm telling you this now! That won't happen! So just go back to the guy who kidnapped Aoi and let me beat the crap out of him!"

"You'd never do that!"

The figure answered. Ibara was shocked, but she didn't stop running after HER. The person she was chasing was a HER, judging from the voice, and it also seems kinda familiar. Deciding to set aside her thoughts, Ibara kept running, despite her fatigue beating at her.

*HONK*HONK*HONK*HONK*

Ibara threw her head back and her eyes widened with what she saw. A freaking snow plow. A huge, freaking snow plow (the really really huge ones)was coming after her, honking its horn at her.

"W-what the hell is THAT doing here?!"

She shouted as her feet still kept going. So many questions had filled up her head. Who was driving the—Oh, the other figure in red was driving. What the hell was something like that doing there? Why was it even working?! What the hell do they want?!

"O-oi! Watch out!" The one driving the snow plow shouted, waving at her.

"What the hell?! You're chasing after me with that thing!"

"Naruse! Listen to her!" Haruto's voice shouted. 'What is going on?!'Ibara thought.

"WATCH OUT! POLE!" The red-clad figure shouted again. Wondering what that meant, Ibara slowly tuned to face whatever it was that the person was warning her of. There was a pole right in front of he-, oh. THAT pole.

'Oh what the heck…"

Ibara muttered, knowing that it was too late to stop herself. She tripped on the snow and fell face first. Her face fitting the pole hard, knocking her out. The pole broke in half too. The one she was chasing took off her red garb, revealing long black hair, Shion Ozu. The other one, riding the snow plow went down and looked at Ibara's passed out figure lying on the snow.

"Aneki, what are we gonna do? Haruto's gonna kill us!" Shion whined, kneeling down in front of Ibara and poking her cheeks. The other one took of her red garb, revealing wavy brown hair, the elder Ozu Sister, Kanon Ozu.

"Well, at least we had fun pissing her off and chasing her down, right?"

"Damn right I'll get you for this." Came on ominous voice from behind. They were so dead. If there's one thing being with genetically engineered human beings can teach you, it's never to mess with a mad scientist who is an expert at bombs and blowing things up. Unless you want your guts spluttering in the sky.

"What the hell were you guys thinking?!"

'Ah? Was that…Haruto?' Ibara thought as she slowly regained her consciousness. Something warm was on her head, as numerous voices screamed at one another. Voices that she all recognized.

"Hey, it was your plan in the first place Haruto! Don't blame it on us!" Kanon shouted back.

"Maa, maa, everyone. If you keep shouting like that, Ibara-senpai might just wake up. She needs to sleep, after…hitting a pole." Taeko said exasperatedly.

"Aoi still can't believe that senpai fell for something like that AND ran into a pole." Aoi's voice commented.

'What the-?! They're all here? What's going on ri—OW! My head hurts…I think I'm having a migraine or something… but seriously, what is going on? Wait, everyone. Then that means-!'

"AOI!" She suddenly shouted, sitting up, only to suffer extreme dizziness. "Ow, ow, ow. My head, ugh, my heard hurts…"

"Well of course it would hurt, you idiot." Haruto's voice said. Ibara immediately looked over to her right, and found Haruto standing beside her bed, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, with his tie loose.

"HARUTO?!"

"Yeah, sure. Nice greeting there." He said plainly, sighing. "I'm just glad you didn't have severe brain damage or anything. You hit that pole pretty hard."

"Pole? What pole?" Ibara asked, confused. "And what are you doing here? In fact, what are you ALL doing here? I thought you won't be able to make it back?! I thought you were on a mission?! Who saved Aoi! Who the hell kidnapped her in the first place?! Tell me who that jerk is and I'll teach him al lesson!"

Ibara ranted off, and the other Coppelions could only gulp in fear. The Class Rep can be pretty scary when she's pissed.

"The answer to almost all her questions is Haruto right?" Shion asked excitedly. Ibara's eyes widened, as Haruto, Taeko and Aoi only face palmed.

"Ting ting ting! That's my sister! You got the right answer lil sis!" Kanon cheered and clapped. As the two sisters cheered and celebrated, Haruto dreaded the things to come.

"Haaruuutoooo" Ibara said, dragging on the vowels in his name.

"Why don't you guys all go out for awhile? I'll talk to Naruse about this." He turned around, trying to delay his face-off with her, even just for a few seconds. Without a second thought, Shion, Kanon, Taeko and Aoi left the room, in one swift motion, leaving trails of dust in the wind.

"Why those traitors—"

"Mind explaining this to me first, Haruto?" Ibara interrupted his self loathing monologue. He turned his head and saw her trying to leave her bed. They were still inside the clinic that Ibara and the Healthcare Team had slept in. he hurriedly went over to her and helped her sit up.

"I will explain it to you, but you might want to relax for a while. As I said, you hit your head pretty hard. Did you know that you rboke the pole in half?"

"I –what?! With my head?! That's impossible Haruto."

"Yeah, I thought so too. But it seems like they really did make your head harder than steel. Figuratively AND literally speaking."

"Ugh. Enough of this! Can you please just explain it to me?!" she shouted. She didn't know what was happening with her, but she just had this…fleets of emotions battling in her heart. It was so weird, and for some reason, she just felt so agitated. "You promised to call me but you never did! I got worried about you, you know! I kept waiting for your call to arrive, but it didn't! Then Aoi got kidnapped, and then—and then!"

"Naruse," Haruto said calmly, he sat on the side of her bed and placed his hand against her forehead. "You don't have a fever or anything, but it's still swollen. Good enough."

"That's not my point!"

"And I know it's not. Did you really think I was one of those idiotic protagonists in shounen mangas? But you need to understand something here Naruse." He said standing up and walking to the table right next to her bed, and taking a warm soaked towel from the basin. He glanced over to her and smiled. "Your welfare matters more to me than just explanations."

"Hmph. Yeah sure. Tell me that right after I get this huge bump on my head because of you and your stupid pranks."

She said crossing her arms over her chest. Haruto went back to his position beside her, lying her down and placing the towel on her head.

"This should keep the swelling down. And as for what happened, swear to god Naruse, it wasn't a prank. It was meant to be a surprise. I had it all planned out, but I didn't think it'd back fire like this."

"Wait, you planned the whole kidnap Aoi thing?" she stressed, about to sit up, but he forced her down, placing his hand over the towel on her forehead.

"Yes, I did. Look, if keep on moving around and interrupting me, I won't be able to tell you the whole story."

"Fine." She said removing his hand from her head. "Then I'll shut up and you tell me."

"Sigh, really Naruse." He said, shaking his head. "Well, as I said. The plan was to keep you busy and run after Kanon and Shion, since they were the most useless when it comes to preparations. We wanted to recreate a school setting here in Tokyo. Complete with the tall tree that stood in Osaka. The one you often climbed up on."

Ibara was stunned, to say at the least. She didn't know that he and everyone else went through all the trouble to prepare a supposedly wondrous gift for her, but she ended up ruining it.

"You still remember that tree right? The one where I gave you your first ever Christmas present?"

"Well, of course I do! I still have it with me too!"

"That's good and all, but back to topic. Things were pretty much according to plan. The VP was in this too, Fukasaku and Nomura knew as well. All was well right up until you suddenly bolted right after me. I never knew you'd be so pissed when Fukasaku got kidnapped. Right from there, things got haywire. And now, here we are."

"Me with a swollen head and you with your broken pride?" Ibara joked. Much to her surprise, Haruto smiled at her.

"Yes. Me with my broken pride." He repeated. "But anyway, does your head still hurt?"

"Uh, no. not as much as it used to." She said taking off the towel and feeling her forehead. After checking it a few times, she threw it back into the basin, before sitting up. "See? I'm all better."

"You're such a bad liar, Naruse. As always."

"Yeah, and you can't even surprise me properly without causing a huge disaster. Why did you go so far with this one anyway? It's not like you have this obligation to surprise me anyway."

"Yeah, I know." Haruto said stretching his arms and lying down at the foot of her bed. "I said that we should just keep it simple. I mean, just stay together or something. But then Nomura and Fukasaku kept on ranting at me. You've been spaced out lately, ever since I came back, they said."

"Ah! NO! That's not—"

"I should at least do something to fix things between us, if I ever made you mad or something. They told me I needed to cheer you up. They told me that I should put in effort this year. Me."

"Those girls…" Ibara muttered. "Sorry about that Haruto. I took my irritation out on you. Plus, you didn't have to put in this much effort. I hope you'll forgive them." She added as he stood up.

"Nope. I haven't given you a present after that one right? It was my first and last."

"You don't have to give me presents Haruto."

"But if I can see you smile, then I have to, right?" Ibara was stunned. He had never been this sweet, ever. Not that they should act sweet and all. But still. "Come here." He suddenly said, holding out his hand to her.

"Come where?"

"Somewhere." He said secretively, pulling on her hand, taking her up and out of the bed. He grabbed her jacket and coat as they got out and passed them over to her as he wore his. They ran out of the clinic, with Ibara noticing that the others had gone missing. As they ran through the snow, she couldn't help but feel like a child playing on a normal wintry day.

"Haruto, seriously, where are we going?" She said, stifling her giggle. Haruto stopped running and looked back to her. He walked closer to her, before removing a fallen snow flake on the tip of her nose, causing her to blink and blush.

"See? The surprise hasn't even begun, but just now, you were smiling beautifully, Naruse."

-chapter end-

Yeah. It wasn't supposed to end here. Sorry bout that. And yes Haruto is very much OOC. But that's just how she likes him, when he's like..gooey and protective of Naruse, always wanting to make her smile. He really is like that. So I guess I managed to retain that part of him.

Well, next chapter will be the surprise and a blast form the past! Thanks for reading!